What are SF and SF Bio doing in Norway?

Cinema in Norway has a long history. As early as 1896, the first public film screening took place in Oslo - just months after the Lumière brothers first dazzled audiences with moving images in Paris. 1913 marked the passing of the first cinema law, which among other things required cinemas to obtain special licenses. At the time, it was primarily municipal governments that received these permits, a fact that created an entirely different structure for the cinema industry compared to that found in Sweden. Private cinemas, on the other hand, have established themselves mainly in mid-sized cities. SF Bio's Norwegian equivalent, SF Kino, has nonetheless succeeded in becoming the largest player on the market, with cinemas in six cities and a market share of 18 percent.

Guttorm Petterson is currently CEO of SF in Norway, Svensk Filmindustri's Norwegian branch, a position he assumed after many years in the cinema industry. Three years ago, SF Norway started a production department dedicated to making its own films. Previously, a series of six films starring the ruthless private investigator Varg Veum were co-produced with Denmark-based Miso Film. The series included two feature films for cinema distribution and four for DVD and TV release.

"Now we're producing our first entirely independent feature film, Limbo, a drama about fragile family relations," Guttorm explains. "It's about a mother who has been on an oil-mining mission in Trinidad and stars Lena Endre. We've also produced a Christmas feature called Den unge Fleksnes (Young Fleksnes), which centers on Fleksnes, the main character in a Norwegian comedy series from the 1970s that was also popular in Sweden, as a young teenager. It will be released in Norway around Christmas 2010, and we hope it will be shown in Denmark and Sweden as well."

While many Swedish films - most recently, Män som hatar kvinnor (Men that hates women) - have been very successful in Norway, Norwegian films often have a hard time making an impact in Sweden. Guttorm hopes to change this.

"It's wants important to see Scandinavia as a single market, despite its cultural differences. And this is far from impossible. Just look at Arn, which had significant Norwegian contributions, both in terms of actors and crew members."

What would be your dream project?

"A feature film starring Robert De Niro and George Clooney. It might not happen, but if it did, I wouldn't say no."